Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - HOSED: Kansas Baseball DISRESPECTED by NCAA Tourney Committee | Jayhawks to Host Lawrence Regional

Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, really cool that the Kansas Jayhawks are going to be hosting a regional for the first time in program history. But what's not cool is the NCAA tournament selection committee, which royally screwed Kansas. You are locked on Jayhawks. Your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here with another episode of Locked on Jayhawks. KU Baseball, getting to host a regional for the NCAA tournament.

Starting point is 00:00:34 will break down all of what it means, the teams that are in KU's region, why KU got screwed and more on today's episode that is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Head to fandwell.com to get started today. So we're going to start right there. KU comes up as a team hosting, which is really cool. It's never been done in program history.

Starting point is 00:00:55 But the not cool part of it is both the strength of the region KU is playing in, as well as where they are seated as possible. part of this. Let's start with the where they're seated as part of this. So Kansas comes in as the 15th seed among the 16 teams that were seated to host regionals, right? And the stupidity of that me is like, okay, first of all, the disrespect to the Big 12, Kansas was 15, West Virginia was 16. Look at this. Of the 16 teams that got to host a regional, Kansas included, KU was tied eighth in Quad 1 wins. They were seventh in Quad 1 plus

Starting point is 00:01:36 Quad 2 wins. And if you just want to say, oh, well, was it just because they played more games? They have more opportunities. Now, if we just go by Quad 1 plus Quad 2 win percentage among the 16 teams that are hosting, Kansas ranked 6th. So if you're just comparing KU's resume to the other 15

Starting point is 00:01:52 teams that are hosting, which is applicable since they are one of those schools, Kansas has a much better resume than a team who is seated 15th. At the end of the day, the tournament committee overvalues the RPI rating, which is a, it's a cryptic old metric that, you know, has some positives about it from a simplistic standpoint. We are so far past needing a metric like the RPI, though we have so many better available tools to us. And if you're just going by

Starting point is 00:02:19 the resume numbers like those Q1, Q2 wins, Kansas should have been in discussion to hosting a super regional. And instead, they were 15th, which tells me, if Kansas didn't beat West Virginia, the Big 12 championship game, at best, Kansas would have been the number 16 team, the last team hosting a regional with a chance that they would not be hosting a regional at all. If Kansas loses to Oklahoma State or Baylor in the first or second game of their Big 12 tournament, they're probably not hosting a regional, which is crazy because, again, their quad wins are really good. They won the Big 12 regular season. And to now win two Big 12 championships are regular in a postseason, to have all those

Starting point is 00:03:01 Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins comparatively to some of the other teams hosting, and you only end up 15th. It's a slap in the face of Kansas. It's a slap in the face of the Big 12. What adds to the slap in the face here is the idea of KU's regional. This is a brutal regional for Kansas. Now, I get it from the standpoint of, well, not theoretically, they are the 15th team that got seated here.

Starting point is 00:03:24 If you're just working like an S curve, which I know that's not how they work this thing, but if you're just working the S curve, then whoever is one of your low, technically one seeds, which, you know, if you're viewing the 16 regional hosts as one seed of their pods, then you would say one of the lower one seeds would get one of the higher two seats. So it does make sense in theory to say, okay, Arkansas, for instance, like Kansas is 19th on RPI, Arkansas is 21st, right? It does make sense from that standpoint to be like, okay, you're one of the lower one seeds. You're going to get one of the better two seats.

Starting point is 00:03:56 It's obviously very annoying and it's stupid that we keep ending up with Arkansas in the same region is Kansas. It's much more annoying for the Kansas fans than it is for the Arkansas fans because Arkansas fans saw victories against Kansas in the Liberty Bowl in 2022, the NCAA tournament in 2023, the NCAA tournament 2025. And even though they didn't play last year in the regional, Kansas was in the Fayetteville regional and ended up losing that one. So it's gotten more favorable there. But so that's just annoying as a part of it. But then you would say, okay, Well, if you have one of the higher two seeds, if you're again, just kind of working the S curve, you would think that then therefore you're going to get one of the lower three seeds and then one of the

Starting point is 00:04:37 higher four seeds. Sounds like you got one of the higher four seeds, Northeastern is an interesting team. They did not get one of the lower three seeds. They got one of the best three seeds that probably should have been a two seed. Missouri State is in the top 25 of the RPI. And that is the three seed in this region. Are you kidding me? So, yeah, this region's brutal, man. If you look at pair ratings, which does really good, like, analytical work and probability stuff for college baseball, it has Kansas with a 49.8% chance to get out of the Kansas regional. So slightly below a coin flip. West Virginia, who is the 16th seed, has a 61% chance to get out of their regional.

Starting point is 00:05:19 The 14th seed, Mississippi State, has a 76% chance to get out of their region. by that number. Nebraska, who, I guess Nebraska actually had a really hard one. So actually, they're lower than Kansas. But KU probably should have been ranked higher than Nebraska for looking at that because KU was 2-0 against Nebraska. Nebraska was 13, Kansas 15, but that's a story for another day. So anyway, I'm really excited KU's in this thing. I'm really excited KU's hosting. They're going to be renovating the ballpark or I guess already have slash continue or going to and making it have like 4,000 attendance. And I'm super excited for this happening in Kansas and hope that they can do some damage and make some normal.

Starting point is 00:05:55 but I'm also annoyed by the path that the NCAA gave them. And that's before even getting into the idea that by being the 15, right, if you're the 10 and you win your regional, now you're in kind of a coin flip series, the 7 versus 10 series and a super regional kind of a coin flip. When you're 15 against two and some sites even have Georgia Tech as the number one team, that's a much more uphill battle to climb. But hopefully this ignites a fire under KU,

Starting point is 00:06:19 gives them a little extra chip on their shoulder. We know they've certainly have a lot of players who have had that before and won't be unfamiliar to him this time. Let's get to a quick breakdown of the teams in Kansas' regional and then a bit of an ode to what they've accomplished with still more to accomplish for KU Baseball. This is locked on Jayhawks. Our episode today is brought to you by Fandualt Sportsbook.

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Starting point is 00:07:17 You can even get on the action of the college baseball tournament. So check out Fandual. Again, new customers can turn five bucks into 150 for just. getting started. It is Fandul, the official sportsbook partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network. That's Fandual.com to get started. FanDuel, play your game. Don't forget, you can join the everyday air club where you can get the ad free version of the show at locked on jhawks.supercast.com. That is locked on jhawks. Dot supercast.com. Okay, so there's a site called Ben Palm, which is kind of a newer

Starting point is 00:07:52 analytic site, and he's basically trying to be the Ken Palm of baseball. His name's Ben obviously. Cool plan. Words there. And it has Georgia Tech, again, going back to that conversation, number one on that site. But anyway,

Starting point is 00:08:05 when you look at that site, it kind of shows you a cool idea of like team efficiencies and stuff like that. So Kansas, for instance, comes in, see, this was surprising to me

Starting point is 00:08:17 because I think of Kansas being a big time bopping, hitting team. And like, they can be and they can get rolling. We saw them a big 12 tournament. But Kansas actually has been more of pitching team, according to this, 30th in the country in adjusted hitting,

Starting point is 00:08:31 21st in the country in adjusted pitching to this point in time. Now, if we look at some of the other teams in KU's region, Arkansas, for instance, is 20th in adjusted hitting, 18th in adjusted pitching. So they're a very well-balanced team and obviously a very good one. Missouri State is 18th in adjusted hitting, 90th in adjusted pitchings. They're going to be a team that's going to try to outscore some of the other teams that are, that are in this thing. And then when you look at Northeastern, they're 68th and adjusted hitting 1004th and adjusted pitching.

Starting point is 00:09:03 And they're a team that can really steal bases. So KU's going to have to be on its game with their slide steps and their quick moves and catchers throw in the second and so on and so forth there. When you look at what these teams have done well so far this season, really handy graphic that was put out there by Colin Wilson, who works for the Action Network at Colin One on Twitter. And it just shows like a grid of the team stats for the teams in the region. And so if we look at some of the advantages or disadvantages that each teams have, KU is an excellent walking team. This has kind of been a thing under the Dan Fitzgeraldero. They're top 15 in the country.

Starting point is 00:09:42 Northeastern is actually 17th in the country. So they're really good at it. Missouri State, not a great walk team. Arkansas is good at it, but they're 37th in the country. So they're a little lower in terms of what you're looking at there. When you look at hits, Kansas is the best just like contact team, 31st in the country. All the other teams are outside the top 75. So maybe that's an area where just making contact can be helpful for KU this weekend.

Starting point is 00:10:05 When you look at Team ERA, though, that's where Arkansas shines. Their top 35 in the country. Northeastern is actually 65th. Kansas is 97th. But again, that's not adjusted to your opponent or field and stuff like that. When you look at strike out to walk ratio, which that can be maybe a better tell. for just how legit is the pitching. Kansas rates out much better there.

Starting point is 00:10:27 Arkansas is elite there. Top 10 in the country. Kansas is 31st in the country and then Missouri State, Northeastern, outside the top 100 in that area. When you look at fielding percentage, which is not everything because,

Starting point is 00:10:37 you know, I don't know, like you could not get to a baseball. You could just not get to a baseball so you don't get an error, but it's a bad job fielding because you didn't have enough range to get there. So I don't know if you want to look at that much,

Starting point is 00:10:48 but if you do look at that, Missouri State has by far the best team in that area specifically, but again, range is, is something that is not counted in a fielding percentage that becomes important. Here's what becomes the theme of the weekend in the regional. It is home run hitting. Kansas is 17th in the country and home runs per game. Arkansas is 25th.

Starting point is 00:11:04 Missouri State is 7th. There's going to be a lot of big flies this week in Lawrence. And I haven't looked too much into the weather this weekend, but I do believe it is supposed to heat up this weekend. So yeah, probably going to be some higher scores in some of these games, especially true when you look at slugging percentage, Kansas 25th in the country, Missouri State 11th. Arkansas is decent at 54th. So I would imagine there's going to be a lot of those runs scored,

Starting point is 00:11:28 especially when you figure in that Missouri State is lacking a little bit in the pitching. Northeastern is fine. Arkansas is really good. So that'll be kind of the big question and strength of how this kind of comes together here. At the end of the day, how have teams done against quad one plus quad two opponents? Well, Kansas is 22 and 12. Arkansas is 21 and 15, so not far behind. Missouri State 12 and 18. And then you have Northeastern actually sneaky was five and five. So that's a little scary that your first matchup is against a team who can play up a little bit here with Northeastern.

Starting point is 00:11:56 Here's the thing, though, and I think this is a positive for KU. So if you remember last year, Kansas made the NCAA tournament, it was awesome. Really cool season. Again, great season again this year too. But they didn't win any of the NCAA tournament games. They losing the first game to Creighton. They lose in the second game to be eliminated to North Dakota State. I would imagine there's going to be, because they haven't won an NCAA tournament game in what, a decade plus at this point?

Starting point is 00:12:21 even though you're playing a four seed, I don't think Kansas will overlook them because they haven't won a tournament game. So it doesn't matter who you're playing. You know what I mean? It's been a while. Like this class hasn't won a tournament game. So I think that'll be helpful for KU to stay focused on your first opponent. And you just hope that that Arkansas, Missouri State game is super high scoring with some of those boppers,

Starting point is 00:12:41 that it really taxes the pitching staffs for both teams for whoever you would play, win or lose after that. All right. Let's get on to owed to what they've accomplished and our trivia question of the day. all that next. Welcome back into Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget enjoying the everyday air club. Get the free version, ad free version of the show, I should say, at locked on jhawks. dot supercast.com. What a season, though, it's been for KU to this point. I just wanted to say this before the week of the tournament because we know sometimes NCAA tournaments can be fickle

Starting point is 00:13:10 and things can be, you know, difficult. But to this point, KU has already won 42 games. That is third most in school history. They are hosting for the first time in school history from an individual perspective. They've got guys having none, but like Tyson LeBlon has tied the individual home run record for Kansas, one that I think everybody's hoping we get to see this weekend at Houghlin go away. KU is the most team strikeouts in a season of all time. Obviously, KU wins the Big 12 regular season championship for the very first time and winning a conference regular season crown for the first time in like over 70 years. They win the big 12 tournament for just the second time in the first time since 2006. As a team, over 100 home run,

Starting point is 00:13:53 they currently have their second most home runs as a team all time. It has been an unbelievable season for KU. And it's going to be really cool, too, to see some of these guys get drafted and go on to have MLB careers. You know, for the longest time, it's been scarce with the guys that have been in the MLB from KU. Right now, like Ryan Zephyrjohn is holding down the Ford as kind of a part-time closer for the Angels. And it's been cool to see what he's doing over in Los Angeles. But you're going to continue to see Kansas names flood the draft over these years with Dan Fitzgerald here. And it's going to be cool to see some of those guys continue to work their way up and eventually, you know, promote their way to them.

Starting point is 00:14:27 I'll be level and graduate and get to be at the major league level. And we can look back on those. And I'm excited for that as well. But now that's, you know, there is more to accomplish, right? Go be the winning this team in program history, you know. Go make it to a super regional. Go make it to Omaha, you know, win an NCAA tournament game. Like these are all things that you can do for the first time in the Dan Fitzgerald era and have an opportunity to do.

Starting point is 00:14:51 And it's been a special season. So why not make it a special finish too if you're Kansas? I'm really looking forward to this weekend and to see what's in store for this team through the postseason. All right, our trivia question of the day, going back to Friday's question, it was Kansas beat Iowa State and football in an ugly 14 to 11 game in 2022. Who is the only Jayhawk in that game with more than one catch? The correct answer, Luke Grimm. Luke Grimm was the only KU player with more than one catch in that one.

Starting point is 00:15:18 And that brings us to today's question in KU's 2002, Sweet 16. team win over Illinois, so I was to talk to basketball here. What All-American for Kansas tied for the team lead with 15 points and had a team best, 13 rebounds to boot. And don't forget, if you want to join our trivia action, Jayhawk trivia at gmail.com, we're going Wednesday, June 3rd, right before the Rock Shock Roundball Classic. Half the proceeds go to the roundball. Other half go to the prize pool.

Starting point is 00:15:43 We're going to have some other prizes from Johnny's and the round ball as well to give to you. So register your team, Jayhawk trivia at gmail.com. And we'll see you next time on another edition of Lockdown, Jayhaw. talks.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - HOSED: Kansas Baseball DISRESPECTED by NCAA Tourney Committee | Jayhawks to Host Lawrence Regional

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